Guillotine
by suzie2b
Summary: Can Captain Dietrich stop the executions in time?


**Disclaimer:** _ **The Rat Patrol**_ **is not my property. They come out to play sometimes, then I send them home.**

 **Author's note:** **Friedrich Hehr** **(1879–1952)** **was an actual executioner who travelled from his home in Hanover, Germany to carry out executions in Hamburg. He never went to North Africa, but that's what creative license is for.**

 **Guillotine**

 **By Suzie2b**

 **The Nazis had a new method of execution. The guillotine. Well, it really wasn't** _ **new**_ **. After all, a guillotine was used to execute Murcod Ballagh in Ireland in 1307. However, it had not been seen by the Germans fighting in North Africa.**

 **Captain Dietrich took delivery of one such device at the base near Warzāzāt. He followed his men to the chamber where it was to be used, uncrated, and assembled under his supervision. Dietrich had done some research before the guillotine arrived. He knew executions were, at times, necessary—especially during times of war—but he viewed this as a monstrosity of antiquity. Yes, the guillotine was a quick and painless way to rid the Reich of those who were fighting against them, but to Captain Dietrich it seemed an undignified death. A man should be able to stand proud to the end, not strapped face down to a bench, his head locked in place, waiting for a blade to drop.**

 **A well-known executioner by the name of Friedrich Hehr had been ordered by Field Marshal Rommel to travel to North Africa. He would show those picked to do the job how to do it properly.**

 **#################**

 **It was a week later when Friedrich Hehr arrived. Captain Dietrich stood as a man who appeared to be in his sixties was ushered into his office. He was dressed in a fine black suit, crisp white shirt, and wore a plain black bowler slightly cocked to one side of his head. He removed the hat as Dietrich walked around the desk to greet him, saying, "Herr Hehr, I'm glad to see you've arrived safely. I hope you had no troubles getting here."**

 **Hehr held out his hand and the captain took it as the elder German said, "A pleasure to meet you, Captain Dietrich. My trip went as well as could be expected."**

 **The captain offered a chair and returned to his behind his desk. "I am told that you are an expert on the use of the guillotine."**

" **Yes, since 1938 I have executed hundreds of condemned souls by this method."**

" **And you are willing to instruct my men in its use?"**

 **Hehr nodded. "Field Marshal Rommel has commanded that I undertake this task." He saw something in the expression on Dietrich's face and said, "You do not approve of me, do you, captain?"**

 **Captain Dietrich said matter-of-factly, "It is not you personally, Herr Hehr, it is what you do for a living that bothers me a bit. You put people to death in the bloodiest way possible. How do you sleep?"**

" **I sleep very well, thank you. I have been an executioner since before the guillotine was introduced to Germany. I make a good living. An annual salary of 3,000 Reichsmark – plus 65 Reichsmark per execution."**

 **Dietrich hid his revulsion at the pride Hehr seemed to have in what he does. He stood and said, "I have two volunteers that will receive your instruction, which will begin tomorrow. Perhaps you would like to rest before dinner, Herr Hehr?"**

 **Friedrich Hehr stood and said, "Yes, a rest is what I need. I do not like to travel by air. I am used to using the train to get to my job."**

" **I will have one of my men show you to your room."**

 **#################**

 **Troy, Moffitt, Hitch, and Tully had been on the move for five days. Their assignment was to locate and blow up a German ammo dump had been a success. They were tired and looking forward to getting back to base for showers and sleep.**

 **They were stopped at a waterhole. Hitch and Tully were at the well filling canteens and jerry cans. Hitch sighed wearily and said, "Two more days and we'll be home."**

 **Tully nodded as he screwed the top on the filled canteen his counterpart had handed him. "Yeah, I can't wait to sleep in a real bed."**

 **Hitch said kiddingly, "What about Charley?"**

" **Oh, she'll be there too."**

 **Troy walked over to his two men. "Hurry up. Moffitt sees dust. There may be a German column coming this way."**

 **Hitch said, "We just finished, sarge. As soon as we get these stowed, we'll be ready to go."**

 **It wasn't long before the two jeeps were headed back out into the desert.**

 **However, about an hour later, Tully pulled up alongside Hitch without stopping and Moffitt called to Troy, "I'm still seeing that dust trail behind us! I believe we're being followed!"**

 **Troy looked over his shoulder. There was indeed a cloud of fine dust floating in the air, but there was no sign of any vehicles yet. He told Hitch and Tully, "We'd better pick up our pace!"**

 **The jeeps skimmed the sand as they tried to outdistance their pursuers. But all four of them knew they were leaving a trail for the Germans to follow. Their best bet was to cross into Allied territory and find a place to hide.**

 **It happened fast, as most skirmishes do. They were so intent on losing the Germans that were following them that they didn't consider that there may be one waiting ahead.**

 **Troy and Moffitt quickly manned the 50s as Hitch and Tully drove expertly through and around the attacking German column. They were outnumbered three to one in both men and machines. Tank shells hit the ground, throwing up shrapnel and sand, narrowly missing the jeeps.**

 **Troy noticed that the German column that had been following them was now nearly there to join the fight and realized it had been a trap. He started to tell Hitch that they needed to get out of there when a shell hit the ground in front of them. Hitch tried to swerve, but he turned too tightly and the jeep flipped onto its side.**

 **Tully maneuvered to try to pick up Troy and Hitch, but it was too late. The second column was on them and they were surrounded.**

 **#################**

 **Captain Dietrich hadn't been in the execution chamber since the day the guillotine had been erected. When he walked in the morning after Friedrich Hehr's arrival, the captain found the elder man going over the device with a fine tooth comb. "I hope it meets with your approval, Herr Hehr."**

 **Hehr nodded slowly. "It is not bad. Well-constructed and the blade is sharp."**

 **Two men walked into the chamber and saluted the captain. Dietrich returned their salutes and said, "These are the men who have volunteered to receive your training, Herr Hehr. Corporals Voigt and Schulz."**

 **Hehr turned to the two young men, looked them up and down, then said, "You both understand that I will be teaching you to use a device that is used to decapitate human beings?"**

 **Voigt and Schulz both nodded and said, "Ja, Herr Hehr."**

" **Good. We will get started than."**

 **Dietrich said, "If you will excuse me, I will report to Major Braun that all is on schedule."**

 **Hehr gave a sharp nod. "Of course, captain."**

 **Dietrich breathed a sigh of relief once he was out in the corridor and the door was closed behind him. This whole beheading business was unsettling. He hurried up to Major Braun's office and knocked on the door.**

 **Braun called, "Hereinkommen." Dietrich went in and closed the door before he saluted the major. "What have you to report, captain?"**

" **Herr Hehr is quite satisfied with the guillotine, major. The volunteers have reported to the execution chamber for their instruction."**

 **Major Braun closed the file he had been reading and looked up at Dietrich. "Good. Good. There are three from the French Resistance who have been sentenced to death. They will be brought here to be the first."**

 **Dietrich took a deep breath and asked, "When will the executions be carried out, Major?"**

" **In three days' time."**

 **#################**

 **Troy, Moffitt, Hitch, and Tully had been placed in separate cells. Over two days they had been interrogated and beaten. Early on the third day of their incarceration they were taken out, handcuffed together, and loaded into a halftrack.**

 **Troy whispered to Moffitt, "Where do you think they're taking us?"**

 **Moffitt said quietly, "I heard them say something about a base near** **Warzāzāt."**

 **Before a comment could be made the guards forced them to sit down and one told them to be quiet. "Ruhig sein."**

 **By noon they heard the sounds from the town of** **Warzāzāt as they passed. Then, maybe twenty minutes later, the column rolled through the gates of Major Braun's base.**

 **Troy, Moffitt, Hitch, and Tully were taken to the cells in the basement of headquarters. They were released, one at a time, from the cuffs and pushed into one of the small cells.**

 **Troy looked around and said sardonically, "We've had worse accommodations."**

 **A French accented voice came to them from the cell across from them, "Don't worry, none of us will be here for long."**

" **Oh? Why's that?"**

" **We are all to be executed tonight."**

 **##################**

 **Captain Dietrich was in his office when the report was delivered to him. He read it over twice and still could not believe it to be true. The Rat Patrol had been captured and delivered to his base for execution.**

 **Dietrich hurry through headquarters and down to the prison cells. On his order a guard opened the door to one of them and he stepped inside. The captain silently stared at each of the four battered and bruised prisoners, then turned and walked out.**

 **After the door was closed and locked, Troy said, "Wonder what that was all about."**

 **Moffitt said, "It's as if he were surprised to see us."**

 **The day passed slowly, silently, and the waiting was taking its toll. A prisoner in the other cell had begun to weep and pray as the other two with him tried to console him.**

 **When the time came, Troy, Moffitt, Hitch, and Tully heard the door across the corridor open. A few minutes later their door opened. Their hands were tied with rope behind them before they were herded out of the cell. Together with the three Frenchmen they were taken outside, paraded across a courtyard to Zentraler Ort der Ausführung.**

 **The execution chamber was stark and their footsteps echoed as they walked inside. There were seven wooden coffins lined up and waiting to be filled. Herr Friedrich Hehr stood to the side of the guillotine, next to the lever that would release the shiny, angled blade. His two "trainees" stood next to him. Hehr's intention was to execute the first man himself as a demonstration, then let Corporals Voigt and Schulz finish the job.**

 **The first Frenchman was led by guards to the device and strapped face-down on the board before being slid into place. A piece of wood with a half circle cut into it was locked over his neck to hold his head in place. Hehr said quietly, "Mai Gott erbarme sich deiner Seele." Which translated into "** **May God have compassion upon thy soul."** **Then the lever was pushed down and the blade fell.**

 **The headless body was quickly put in a coffin, his head was placed between his feet. The second Frenchman cried and struggled as he was forced down to be strapped to the board.**

 **Hehr had stepped back to allow Corporal Voigt to take his place. When the prisoner was in place, Voight repeated the words that Hehr had said, then released the blade. The cries of the victim were suddenly silenced.**

 **The third Frenchman stood tall and proud as he was led to the guillotine. Before he was laid down he said loudly, "Vive la France!" Corporal Schulz took his turn and let the blade fall.**

 **After the body and head were placed in a coffin next to the other two, the chamber door suddenly opened and Captain Dietrich strolled in and surveyed the scene. Three coffins lay filled with the executed. Four remained empty. The air was thick with the sharply metallic smell of blood.**

 **Hehr's voice echoed as he said, "Considering your feelings for my job, I did not expect to see you here, Captain Dietrich."**

 **The captain moved slowly and methodically around the four prisoners that were left standing. "Normally I would not be here, Herr Hehr, but I received a report that the infamous Rat Patrol had been brought here for execution. For that I made an exception." He walked behind them and stopped when he got to Troy. "Might I make a suggestion?"**

" **Please do."**

" **Take the privates first and then Sergeant Moffitt. Let Sergeant Troy, as their leader, watch his men die."**

 **Hehr gave a slight bow. "As you wish, captain."**

 **As a guard came for Tully, Troy felt a slight tug on his wrists and suddenly his hands were free. He glanced at Dietrich, who was walking away presumably to watch the execution. With the knife that the captain had pressed into his hands, Troy carefully reached for Moffitt's wrists, leaving the knife with him when he was free.**

 **Tully took a deep breath as he was strapped into place. He let his thoughts rest on Charley. He wanted her to be his last thought and the last thing he would see in his mind.**

 **The wooden board was slid into place and Tully found himself looking down into the bloody basket where his head would soon be. However, before the neck piece could be locked down, Tully heard Dietrich yell, "Look out, they're loose!"**

 **There were gunshots and Tully could hear the fight around him. He began to struggle, trying desperately to get loose. Then he realized he was being slid back and a knife sliced through the rope holding his wrists. Moffitt quickly removed the straps and Tully pushed himself up onto his knees. As he looked around, he saw that Troy and Hitch were holding the Germans at gunpoint.**

 **Moffitt said, "Come on, Tully. Time to go."**

 **The private had started to get off the board when a pair of strong hands grabbed his arms and started to pull him back into the guillotine. Tully immediately twisted and braced his legs on the device's frame. Corporal Schulz pulled with all his might as Tully locked his hands around the corporal's wrists and pulled back. Then somehow, perhaps because of the struggle, the blade came down, slicing through the corporal's arms midway between his wrists and elbows.**

 **Tully fell back and rolled to the floor. When he stood up, he realized he was still holding the, now screaming, corporal's wrists. Startled, Tully quickly dropped the bloody limbs and watched the fingers twitch.**

 **Moffitt grabbed Tully and pushed him towards the open door, bringing the private back to his senses. The two guards standing outside had entered at the sound of gunfire and had been killed immediately by the gun Troy had taken from one of the guards that Captain Dietrich "accidently" wounded during the fight.**

 **And once again the Rat Patrol escaped with a blaze of glory.**

 **##################**

 **The German halftrack they had taken during their escape came to a stop in a waterhole and suddenly the dark night was silent. Troy sighed as he hopped out of the back of the vehicle. "We'll rest here and head back to base in the morning."**

 **Hitch asked, "Won't they be looking for us, sarge?"**

" **I don't think so."**

 **Moffitt smiled. "Dietrich gave you that knife, didn't he?"**

 **Troy nodded. "Yeah, he did. And in the process of helping us escape shot two of his own men."**

 **Tully asked, "Why would he help us escape? Dietrich's been waitin' a long time to have us in that position."**

" **I can't begin to guess."**

 **##################**

 **The next morning Captain Dietrich escorted Friedrich Hehr to his waiting car. "Have a good flight home, Herr Hehr."**

" **You are in a lot of trouble with your superiors, aren't you, captain."**

" **I suppose I might be … if anything can be proven."**

 **Hehr smiled slightly. "I see. Well, I saw nothing but an unfortunate escape. Who knows how the sergeant was able to get loose. And gunfire in such a small chamber…" He shook his head as he continued, "I am surprised you and I were not wounded as well."**

 **Captain Dietrich did little to hide his own smile. "Thank you, Herr Hehr."**


End file.
